Prelude to the Curse
by AmandaFaye
Summary: Exactly how did Jonathan and Candy decide to look for a clock in the attic? Maybe like this. Set in any universe.


Prelude to the Curse

_All characters herein belong to R.A. Dick and Fox studios. Events portrayed take place about an hour or so before the episode __**Son of the Curse**__. Thanks to Mary for beta-ing and to Anne Lynne for helping check a definition. _

"Remember to set the clock for fifteen minutes earlier than we really have to be up, or we'll be late because it's fifteen minutes slow," Jonathan Muir advised his sister.

Rolling her eyes, Candy sighed. "Make that twenty minutes slow." She looked down at the once colorful, now faded Mickey Mouse timepiece. "It's getting more off the right time every week."

"Maybe we could get a new one?" Jonathan suggested.

Sadly, the girl shook her head. "I don't think there's room in the budget, Jonathan." Candy had ears, and she knew things could get tight around Gull Cottage. "Besides, we've had Mickey forever. I'd miss him, wouldn't you? And, if Mom's gonna buy us something new, I'd rather have something more fun than a clock."

The little boy nodded. "Me too." Suddenly, he brightened. "Say, I bet if we could fix it, it'd be okay. And, if we could fix things, then there'd be more room in the budget and we get something neat with the savings."

"I don't know... " his sister said warily, but did not resist when he reached over to grab the clock.

Gingerly, Jonathan set the clock on his bed, then got down to retrieve a mini-tool set Grandpa Muir had sent the previous Christmas. For a minute, he stared at the collection of implements, then at the clock.

"You don't know what to do," Candy stated.

"Of course I do. All guys know how to fix stuff," he averred. To prove it, he reached out, picked up a screwdriver, and began opening the back of the clock with it. In only moments, the innards of the gizmo were exposed so that he could poke and prod them with his gear.

Nervously, Candy looked on, biting her lip. She had a bad feeling about this.

Frowning in concentration, Jonathan plunged ahead, though he knew he was completely out of his depth. Finally, deciding that he had done all he could do, he began closing up the clock. The back, at first, refused to stay on, but he managed to get it attached again, until he started to wind it.

"I think it's more broken than before it was fixed," Candy opined. "Look, the hands aren't moving at all, now."

"No, we just need to get the back to stay on, then it'll work ... " Jonathan began, breaking off in a sigh. "You're right, it's busted. What do we do NOW?"

"Are there any other clocks in the house?" Candy wondered. "Maybe an old travel alarm?"

"Uh- I dunno."

Pursing her lips, Candy thought aloud. "It'd be neat if we had a clock that looked like it belonged in this room. Antique, you know."

"Maybe the Captain has an old ship's clock in the wheelhouse!" Jonathan exclaimed.

Because she liked the idea, Candy didn't reprimand her brother for mentioning his imaginary ghost again. "Yeah!"

"Let's go look," the lad said.

"We can't look long; we're supposed to be in bed," the girl warned.

"We won't."

Grabbing flashlights, the two headed toward the door. Since no adults were in evidence as they crept out of the nursery, the two children made their way to the topmost level of the house.

Shining their lights around the attic, they looked in vain for evidence of a clock. But, there was nothing that resembled one, though there was plenty of other stuff.

"Blast," Jonathan sighed.

"Do you think there's a secret compartment here, somewhere?" Candy came out with suddenly. "Trixie Belden found an emerald necklace in one, and she lived in an old house New York that was _kinda_ like Gull Cottage."

"How would we find one?" Jonathan stared around.

"Let's knock on the walls and see if one sounds hollow. That'd be it, and then, there'd be a door we could get open. There could be anything in it. Even treasure."

"Neat!"

Cautiously, the two young Muirs began tapping on the walls, listening until Jonathan called out in a loud whisper, "Candy, I think I found it!"

Moments later, just below them, Carolyn Muir asked the Captain why he was making ghostly noises.


End file.
